Rubber Cultivation: In India, rubber is also known as white gold. It is being cultivated in many states, but it is not enough to meet the domestic requirement, so many times rubber has to be imported. As happened in the year 2021-22. This year, the consumption of natural rubber was estimated at 12.3 lakh tonnes, while the production was only 7.7 lakh tonnes.
Now India imported rubber worth 7,500 crores to meet the domestic consumption. In a way, the dependence on imports is increasing amidst the growing demand for rubber in the country, for which the government has made a plan to expand the rubber production area in the country. The aim of this scheme of the Rubber Board is to increase the production of rubber in the 7 states of the North East, so that the dependence on the import of rubber can be reduced.
What is NE Mitra Scheme
According to the Money Control report, Rubber Board Chairman Dr. Savar Dhanania says that to increase the area and production of rubber cultivation, NE Mitra scheme has been launched in 7 states of the North East. Under this scheme, there is a target to increase rubber production to 2 lakh hectares by the year 2025 in the North-East region. He told that along with Sikkim, the climate of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura is quite favorable for rubber cultivation. Tripura, the second largest producer of rubber after Kerala, is also a state in the northeastern region. The number of rubber producers in this state with a population of only 40 lakhs is 1.15 lakhs.
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increased production in corona
Rubber Board Chairman Dr. Savar Dhanania also told that despite the Corona epidemic, Tripura has achieved considerable progress in the production of rubber. By the year 2021, the area under rubber cultivation has increased from 2,374 hectares to 8,400 hectares in the year 2022. Now the Rubber Board has also submitted a project worth 500 crores for the development and expansion of the rubber sector in Tripura. We have also found that there is a lot of potential for the production of rubber wood in rubber, so have also proposed to the Chief Minister of Tripura for the promotion of rubber based industries.
Rubber processing plan under PPP model
Dr Savar Dhanania, Chairman, Rubber Board, explains that along with the production of rubber, the Tripura Forest Development Corporation Limited (TFDPC) is running a rubber timber factory at Anandanagar in West Tripura district, where the old rubber trees planted by TFDPC are being processed. Processing is done. We want the state government to set up rubber wood processing units in the private sector under the PPP model, so that the rubber producers also get the facility to sell the trees at the right place. Dr. Dhanania suggests that there is rubber plantation in 17,000 hectares of Sepahijala district. A rubber factory can also be set up here.
Import of rubber from these countries
To meet the domestic consumption of rubber, 5.46 lakh tonnes of rubber has been imported from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), with a total expenditure of about Rs 7,500 crore. At the same time, experts estimate that by the year 2030, the domestic consumption of rubber can increase to 20 lakh tonnes. In such a situation, efforts will have to be made to save foreign exchange and become self-sufficient in the field of rubber production.
Disclaimer: Some of the information given in the news is based on media reports. Farmer brothers, before implementing any suggestion, do consult the concerned expert.